Cup dispenser



June 11, 1929. c. BARBIERI CUP DISPENSER Filed Sept. 26, 1924- 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Gsarefiarlzrz o by June 11, 1929. c. BARBIEJR'I 1,716,753

CUP DISPENSER Filed Sept. 26, 1.924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 :21 5

iTulIml unnulnnm HIM,

III/III V Patented June 11, 1929.

UNITED STATES CESARE B ARBIERI, OF NEW YORK, N. Yr,

ASSIGINOR TO THE VORTEX MFG. CO. OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

CUP DISPENSER.

Application filed September 26, 1924. Serial No. 739,981.

This invention relates more particularly to an improved nested flat cupdispenser of the chain feed type wherein chain feed mecha nisms areadapted to besimultaneously operatcd by a transverse slidahle baradapted to be actuated by a'lever which is operated by a cup each time acup is withdrawn from the dispenser casing.

It is an object of this invention to provide H a chain feed type nestedflat cup dispenser wherein a lever actuated by the withdrawal of the cupserves to simultaneouslyactuate feed mechanisms within the dispenser tocause the movement of a stack of nested cups towards discharge position.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a nested cupdispenser of the bottom discharge type wherein a cup operated lever isconnected to actuate a movable member for the purpose. of simultaneouslyoperating endless conveyors for the purpose of feeding a stack of cups apredetermined distance between cup guides each time a cup is withdrawnfrom the bottom of the stack out through the lower end of the dispensercon-- tainer.

It is an important object of this invention to provide a nested cupdispenser of simple and improved construction wherein cu feed chains areadapted to be simultaneous y operated by a reciprocating bar which isadapted to be moved in one direction by a cup operated lever mechanismand in an opposite direction by a control spring.

Other and further important objects of this invention will be apparentfrom the disclosures in the. specification and the accompanyingdrawings.

The invention (in a preferred form) is illustrated in the drawings andhereinafter more fully described.

On the drawings: I

Figure l is a side elevation of a nested fiat cup dispenser embodyingthe principles of this invention with one side removed and illustratingthe container in section.

Figure 2 is a sectional View taken on line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged transverse section taken on the line 3-3 ofFigure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detail section taken on the line 4-4of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary detail section taken on line 5-5 ofFigure 2.

Figure 6 is a detail'sectional View taken on line 66 of Figure 1 withthe container omitted. I

As shown on the drawings:

The reference numeral 1 indicates a mounting plate havin longitudinalside flanges 2 and provide with apertures to permit the mounting plateto be mounted on a wall or other vsupport. Pivotally mounted on theupper edgeof the mounting plate 1 is a cover 3. Supported in the lower.apertured ends of the mounting plate flanges 2 is a rod or shaft 4 onthe pro ecting ends of which the lower rear corners of the side walls 5of a container or casing are pivotally supported. The container alsoembraces, a front wall 6 which connect the side walls 5; The bottom ofthe casing is closed by a bottom wall 7 having a cup discharge s lot 8provided therein with the middle portion of said slot enlarged asindicated by the reference numeral 9. Struck from the bottom plate 7 isa shield or apron 10 the middle portion of which is cut away to afford athumb recess 11 to permit access to be had to the projecting tip of thelowermost cup ofa stack of cups disposed within the container.

Rigidly secured on the inner surface of the container front wall 6 nearone side of the container is a flange 12 of a bracket plate 13.Integrally formed on the bracket plate 13 1s a cup channel guide 14which extends downwardly beyond the lower end of the bracket flange 12to within a very short distance of the bottom plate 7 of the container.The stationary guide 14 is slightly inclined as indicated in Figure 2with the upper end of the guide positioned nearer the side Wall of thecontainer than the lower end. Struck from the upper portion of thechannel guide 14 is an outwardly and downwardly curved finger or lug 15over which the upper bight of an endless feed chain 16 is trained. Thechain 16 passes downwardly through the. guide 14 and passes through anaperture in the lower portion of said guide to permit the chain 16 to beengaged around a sprocket 17. The sprocket 17 is secured near one end ofa shaft 18 the ends of which are journalled in the guide 14 and in thelower end of the flange 12 of the guide bracket 13. Also secured to theshaft 18 is a ratchet 19 with which a pawl 20 is adapted to coact.

I The pawl 20 is pivotally supported on an upwardly directed extension21 integrally formed on one end of a reciprocating bar 22 havinglongitudinal slots 23 and 24 positioned near the ends thereof to permitthe bar to be slidably engaged on the shaft 18 and on a similar shaft25. Integrally formed on the lower edge of the bar 22 is a lug 26 towhich one end of a coil control spring 27 is attached. The other end ofthe control spring 27 is secured to a pin mounted on the inner face ofthe front wall 6 of the container. integrally formed on the lower edgeof the bar 22 is a second lug or projection 28 on which is pivotallymounted a pawl 29. The pawl 29 1s positioned to coact with a ratchet 30which is secured near one end of the shaft 25. Mounted on the oppositeend of the shaft 25 is a sprocket 31 around which the lower bight of asecond feed chain 32 is trained. The chain 32 passes through an opening33 provided in the lower portion of a movable channel guide 34 which isalso inclined so that the respective uides 13 and con verge downwardly.The movable guide 34 has a finger or lug 36 struck from the upper endthereof to afford a guide over which the upper bight of the chain 32passes. Tntegrally formed along one margin of the guide 34 is a bracketplate 37 provided with a flange 38 which is secured to the inner surfaceof the front wall 6 of the container.

integrally formed along one longitudinal mar in of the flange plate 38is a flange 39 to a 0rd a channel guide for a slidable cam plate 40positioned between the guide 34 and the flange 39 and slidable over thebracket late 38. A finger plate 41 is integrally formed on the upper endof the cam plate 40 to permit the same to be manually shiftedlongitudinally with respect to the guide 34. The cam plate 40 isprovided with cam slots 42 through which pins 43 project. The pins passthrough transverse slots in the flange 38 and have the ends thereofsecured to the inner face of the front wall 6 of the container.

Secured on the inner face of the front wall 6 of the container is a pinsupport 44 on which the upper end of an actuating lever 45 is pivotallymounted. The lever 45 is provided with a slot 46 through which a pin 47on the bar 22 projects. Formed on the lower inclined edge of the lever45 is an inclined plate 48 having a cup guide channel 49 integrallyformed thereon. The up per end of the guide 49 is positioned to registerwith the lower end of the guide 34.

The operation is as follows:

When the mounting plate 1 is mounted on a wall by screws or other meansthe cover 3 may be raised and the container 56 swung outward about thepivot shaft 4 into a position to permit an operator to engage the fingeriece 41 to pull outwardly on the same there y causing the cam plate 40to slide outwardly. The outward movement of the plate 40 causes the camslots 42 to move on the pins 43 thereby causing the movable channel.guide 34 to move transversely away from the stationary guide 14 toincrease the distance therebetween. A stack of flat nested cups may nowbe readily inserted into the container between the channel guides 14 and34 with the lowermost cup projecting through the discharge slot 89 inback of the shield 10 with the tip of said lowermost cup disposed behindthe thumb recess 11. \Vith a stack of cups in position between theguides 34 and 14 the cam plate 40 is moved downwardly by pressing on thefinger piece 41 thereby causing the movable channel guide 34 to moveback into normal position toward the stationary guide 14 whereby theupper corners of the cups within the container are engaged and supportedby the inner laps of the feed chains 16 and 32. Due to the fact that theguides 14 and 34 converge towards their lower ends, the cups in thelower end of the stack are compressed more than those in the upper endof the stack so that the cups in the lower portion of the stack areslightly expanded.

With the container filled with a stack of flat nested cups supported bythe conveyor chains in the guides 13 and 34 the container is adapted tobe swung upwardly into closed position to permit the cover to be loweredto hold the container in place.

The stack of cups within the container is so positioned that thelowermost cup projects through the discharge opening 8 9 and has onecreased portion thereof seated in the guide channel 49 supported by thelever 45.

To withdraw the lowermost cup from the container an operator merely hasto place his thumb in the thumb recess 11 of the shield 10 against thefolded portion of the tip of the lowermost cup while the fore finger ofthe operators hand is adapted to be engaged in back of the tip of thelowermost cup. The lowermost cup may now be easily withdrawn through therestricted outlet slot 89 with one creased portion of the cup sliding inthe lever channel guide 49 thereby causing said lever to swing about thepivot pin 44 outwardly away from the center of the container. Outwardmove. ment of the lever 45 causes the pin 46 to slidably move thecontrol bar 22 toward the left, looking at Figure 2, so that the pawls20 and 29 supported on said bar act to rotate the respective ratchets 19and 30 thereby causing rotation of the respective shafts 18 and 25 andthe sprockets 17 and 31 on said shafts. It will thus be noted that bothsprockets 17 and 31' are simultaneously actuated a predetermined amounttherebyjca us; ing the feed chains 16 and 34 to movea predetermineddistance to cause the stack of cups within the container to be moveddownwardly between the guides 13 and 34 a predetermined distance towardsdischarge position to move the lowermost cup into a position to bereadily engaged for removal from the container as hereinbeforedescribed.

As the lowermost cup is withdrawn from the container causing actuationof the lever 45 the control spring 27 is stretched'thereby Y affording ameans for automatically returning the bar 22 to normal position as soonas the cup passes out of engagement with the lower endof the lever guidechannel 49. The spring 27 thus acts to automatically return the bar- 22to its normal position thereby positioning the pawls and 29 in placeready to operate the ratches 19 and 30 when the next cup is withdrawnfrom the container.

It will be noted that the improved chain feed dispenser of thisinvention has the chain feed mechanisms so arranged that theyareoperated by a' single lever mechanism adapted to be operated in turn byone creased portion of a cup as said cup is manually withdrawn from thecontainerthrough the discharge opening of the bottom of said container.This arrangement affords very simple and effective means for feeding astack of flat nested cups downwardly within a contianer toward dischargeposition a predetermined distance each time a cup is removed from thebottom of the stack out through the discharge opening in the bottom ofthe container.

I am aware that many changes may be made and numerous details ofconstruction may be varied through a wide range without departing fromthe principles of this invention, and I therefore do not purposelimiting the patent granted hereon other Wise than necessitated by theprior art.

Iclaim as my invention: 1. A nested cup dispenser comprising a mountingplate, a container mounted thereon, a cover for said container pivotallymounted on the upper end of said mounting plate, said container having adischarge opening in the bottom thereof, a plurality of chain feedmechanisms mounted within said container adapted to engage a stack ofnested cups therebetween with the lowermost cup in said stack projectingthrough the discharge opening in said container, means forsimultaneously operating said chain feed mechanisms, and a pivoted leverconnected with said means adapted to be operated by a cup as it iswithdrawn from the container to cause actuation of said means andsimultaneous operation of said chain feed mechanism to cause feeding ofpivotally the stack of on s through a predetermined distance throug saidcontainer each time a cup .is withdrawn therefrom.

2. A nested cup dispenser comprising a casnisms movable through saidguides adapted to support a stack of flat nested cups therebetween withthe lowermost cup projecting from said casing, mechanisms for operatingsaid chains, a slide bar for simultaneously operating said mechanisms, apivoted lever mounted in said container and connected with said slidebar, and a guide on said lever adapted to be frictionally engaged by onecreased portion of the lowermost cup in said stack to cause actuation ofsaid lever as the lowermost cup is Withdrawn and operation of said slidebar to simultaneously move the chains a predetermined distance toadvance the stack of nested cups in the casing to position the next cupin a position to be withdrawn from the container.

3. A nested cup dispenser comprising a container having a cup dischargeopening in the bottom thereof, a stationary guide inv said'container, atainer, means for moving to engage a stack of flat nested cupstherebetween with the lowermost cup in said stack projecting through thedischargev opening of said container, mechanisms vfor simultaneouslyoperating said chains, and a single lever mechanism pivotally supportedin said container adapted to be actuated by the withdrawal of thelowermost cup in the container to cause said mechanism to simultaneously operate said chains to advance the stack of cups a predetermineddistance.

4. A nested cup dispenser comprising a casing, a discharge opening inthe bottom thereof, a chain feed mechanism within said. container, asecond chain feed mechanism in said container, said chain mechanismsadapted to engage a stack of flat nested cups therebetween withthelowermost cup projecting through the discharge opening in saidcontainer, means for adjusting said secondary chain feed mechanism withrespect to the first mentioned chain feed mechanism, a spring controlledslidable bar, pawl and ratchet mechanisms adapted to be simultaneouslyoperated thereby to cause simultaneous operation of said chain feedmechanisms, a lever pivoted in said container adapted to move said slidebar in one direction to cause guides mounted therein, chain mechamovableguide in said consaid movable guide? with respect to said stationaryguide, endlessk chains movingthrough said guides adapted simultaneousoperation of said pawl and ratchet mechanisms, a guide on said leverVance the stack of cups a predetermined distance in said container, anda spring connected with said slidable bar for automatirally returningthe same and said lever to nornml position after the removal of a cupfrom the container.

5. A nested lat cup dispenser comprising a =containcr having a dischargeopening therein, a plurality of chain feed mechanisms in said containeradapted to engage a stack of flat nested cups therebetween with thelowermost cup in said stack projecting from the bottom of saidcontainer, and a cup operated lever in said container adapted to beoperated by the withdrawal of a cup to cause simultaneous operation ofsaid chain teed mechanisms to advance the stack of cups a predetermineddistance each time a cup is removed from the container.

(3. A nested cup dispenser comprising a container having a cup dischargeopening therein, a plurality of chain feed mechanisms in said containeradapted to engage a stack of nested cups therehetween with the lowermostcup projecting through said discharge opening, a lever pivoted in-saidcontainer and adapted to be automatically actuated by the withdrawal ofthe lowennost cup from said container to cause simultaneous operation ofsaid chain feed mechanisms and the feeding of the stack of cups apredetermined distance in said container, and means in said containerfor automatically returning the pivoted lever to normal position afterthe removal of the lowermost cup from the container.

7 A nested flat cup dispenser comprising a container having a dischargeopening therein, a plurality of chainfeed mechanisms in said containeradapted to engage a stack of flat nested cups therebetween with an endcup projecting through said opening, and means adapted to be operated bythe withdrawal of a cup to cause simultaneous operation of said chainfeed mechanisms.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

CESARE BARBIERI.

